


Wonderstruck 2.0

by CynicalGinger



Series: Strange Case AU [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Found Family, Mild Gore, Multi, Pre-Relationship, Strange Case AU, The gore mention is just because they're both pathologists, Trust Issues, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 16:10:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11467059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynicalGinger/pseuds/CynicalGinger
Summary: Kravitz considers his feelings for Taako and muses on his relationship with Raven.





	Wonderstruck 2.0

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who wrote fic because they couldn't sleep! It's me! This is the second thing I have for my TAZ AU. It's set before The Strange Case of Dr Moreau, so if you want more context for Kravitz and Taako's meet-cute this is it.

A Good Yarn was quieter than normal post lunch rush as Kravitz and Raven slipped in. After an excruciating morning examining remains from a particularly messy crime scene, followed by a gruelling afternoon of testing, Raven had put her foot down and insisted that they take a longer late lunch. As they took their seats at their regular table, Kravitz was incredibly grateful to Raven for insisting on time away from work. He felt tired and looked worse, judging by the sympathetic look on Raven's face.

They chattered as normal, discussing the cases from work but sidling off into other topics, like Raven's plans for her date weekend, and how Kravitz's symphony was going. Kravitz laughed at Raven's story about getting stuck in an elevator with Istus on their last trip away, and Raven was genuinely interested in what Kravitz was composing and asked questions about it. He always felt a lot of love and appreciation for Raven in moments like these. From the moment he had been assigned to her lab as an assistant, she had kept a close eye on him. She had always made sure he knew about every mistake he ever made, but she also made an effort to let him know when he had done well. From Raven's careful mentorship, Kravitz had blossomed into a competent pathologist and a beautiful friendship had grown between them. Raven was very much firmly lodged in Kravitz's life as a friend and mentor, and she didn't make any bones about her place in Kravitz's life.

As far as family went, Raven had been and continued to be the one constant in Kravitz's life. She had coaxed him out of his shell all that time ago and stuck around because she loved him. After so much time being alone and unable to trust anyone, Kravitz hadn't wanted to believe in Raven. He had been stubborn on that front. Raven had been utterly unimpressed by his attempts to remain distant. That more than anything else had won Kravitz over. Raven's unceasing kindness and refusal to accept Kravitz's discomfort and loneliness was something he had never known before. Being able to rely on a good person had been new as well. Yet here they were. Friends and a strange kind of family, bound not by blood but by a relationship based on mutual respect and love. Which in the grand scheme of things made the fact that she was also his boss kind of amazing.

Kravitz could hear Raven laughing. She pointed at one of the servers in the cafe handing a surprised patron a frothy coffee drink that looked perfectly normal save for it being on fire. He snorted at the predicament and felt a rush of affection for his life, unconventional as it was.

The other server - Taako, Kravitz knew his name was Taako - ran out of the kitchen to check what the fuss was about. On seeing what his twin had done, Taako burst out laughing, clutching his sides and declaring Lup's fire coffee to be 'hysterical'. This exchange taught Kravitz two things. One: Taako's laugh was ridiculous and beautiful. Two: the drop in Kravitz's stomach and the thudding of his heart told him that he was a goner for this absolutely gorgeous man.

He must have been staring at Taako for too long, because the next thing Raven said was, "Don't even think about it."

"What?" Kravitz snapped his attention back to Raven, who was looking at him with a knowing and slightly sinister smile.

"I said, don't even think about it."

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to." Raven said. "Dealing with corpses all day has ruined your poker face, my dear. You're very obvious when it comes to what you feel."

Even after so long of feeling safe and of knowing that he could trust Raven, Kravitz still felt crushed by the prospect of Raven thinking the worst of him. The fear in the back of his mind that something would make her want to leave remained, even as he knew it to be nonsense. "Isn't that a bit hypocritical? You and Istus…"

"I never once bothered Istus while she was at work. I got to know her, and drove her mad with my irresistible charms." Raven winked. "I'm not saying that you would be so rude as to put someone on the spot at work. I think better of you, my dear Kravitz."

"I wouldn't do that to anyone. Promise." Kravitz felt his heart thud in his chest. This felt like a test. It wasn't, he knew it wasn't. Raven was blunt and to the point. It was her way, and he would rather deal with her upfront manner than any level of deceit. That didn't mean he liked feeling in the wrong when he hadn't done anything. "I'm capable of having a crush without being creepy, Raven."

"I'm sorry, that was harsh." Raven admitted. She squeezed Kravitz's hand comfortingly from across the table. "Let me try that again: I am absolutely here for you having feelings for handsome men with perfect hair, and I think you would be wise to wait for him to approach you. Better?"

"Better." Kravitz grinned. "So I maybe shouldn't start with 'I root around in corpses for money' as my opener then?"

"You can if you want to be alone forever." Raven snorted. "Most people would kill to be half as accomplished as you, but sure, reduce that to messing about with the dead."

"I thought you appreciated my unique charms."

"Have I ever once said that?"

"Not in so many words." Even as he and Raven were back to laughing with each other, Kravitz couldn't help but glance over now and then to see if the handsome server was around. Kravitz took what Raven said to heart. It wouldbe inappropriate to ask anything of Taako, so he would ask nothing of him. It was always a bit sticky when romance and work were mixed, and Kravitz wasn't about to drag romance into someone else's workplace. He shuddered at the thought of someone trying to chat him up while he was working with a corpse, or when he was analysing tissue samples. No, he was perfectly capable of having feelings and not acting on them.

Even so, the facts were thus: Taako was absolutely beautiful and had an amazing laugh Kravitz wanted to hear every moment of his life. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this! I'm having so much fun with this bizarre series. 
> 
> Comments are my lifeblood and I always appreciate hearing from people.


End file.
